9 reasons why a cruise might be the best family holiday EVER

1. It's faff-free

"It was the most relaxing holiday I've ever been on - on land you
need to worry about finding a restaurant, a bar, a
theatre, a pool etc, but on the boat everything is there in
your lap."

2. You can avoid all airport-associated trauma

"I'm terrified of flying and the fact that I only have a 10-minute drive
(I live by a port) to get to the cruise terminal with unlimited luggage really appeals. I get to sit on my balcony with a big stack of books and wine - couldn't do that with air travel!"

3. There are unlimited opportunities to stuff your face...

"Amazing food is available 24/7. You can have room service at any
time, and never even need to go to a buffet or dining room if you chose."

... and your kids will have ample opportunity to stuff theirs too

"The buffet meant that the whole family could find
something to suit, without compromise."

"It's a great choice with teenagers. They can eat whatever they like
throughout the day, whenever they like, so there really isn't anything to
argue about!"

"We were worried the restaurant might be too posh with our three-year-old. Not at all. We
got assigned a table with another family with a son the same
age as ours. The staff went out of their way to help, brought our
son's food first and brought him smaller portions of our meals if
he wanted them. Totally wonderful!"

4. You'll never run out of things to do

"We had entertainment on tap, never more than five minutes walk away
- silly games and activities, swimming, ice skating, shows, rollerblading,
basketball courts, a small soft play room..."

5. There's something to occupy all age groups

"We always cruise in a group of 11, ranging from my mother who is
68, down to my daughter, who was 18 months on our last trip. In between
there was an 11-year-old, an eight-year-old and
two five-year-olds. Everyone adores it and we've been many
times."

6. Childcare is brilliant - so you actually get a holiday
too

"Our daughter would wake up and instantly ask to go to her club. We had
to restrict her time there so that we actually got to see her! The level
of childcare was better than any nursery facility here, I can tell you."

"The night nursery was wonderful for me. We dropped our son off at 7pm and he snuggled down to bed. Then we'd pick him up later in the evening and take him back to our cabin."

7. You get to wake up to a different destination every day

"You get to see lots of places in a short time without having to pack and
unpack each time."

8. It doesn't have to cost a fortune

"Prices fluctuate all the time and if you can be relatively flexible with
dates or can go at quite short notice, you can get some really good
deals. There are definitely bargains
to be had."

9. And you can go to places you never thought you
would

"Antarctica is one of those places you can only visit by boat, unless you
are filthy rich (or work for the BBC on Frozen Planet). It was the trip of a lifetime for me."

"On a cruise, we can visit places we couldn't afford to holiday in, such as Norway. We'd never be able to do that without visiting by ship as the
hotel and hospitality costs are prohibitively expensive."

"The only problem is, it will ruin every other holiday you have as
nothing else will be as good!"